REDERICK
BORCHERDING is the owner of a very fine and productive
farm on section 3 of Delaware Precinct, and is one of
the most worthy representatives of that usually most
desirable class of citizens, viz., those who have
emigrated to this country from Germany. He bears the
national characteristics of intelligent, earnest,
persevering and thrifty labor, and to this, doubtless,
is owing the success that has attended his
agricultural efforts.
Our subject was born in Hanover, on
the 22d of November, 1812. He came to this country
with his father in the spring of 1860; a settlement
was made in Clayton County, Iowa. The dawn of life in
America was shrouded with gloom, overcast by the
clouds of trouble and enveloped in the shadows of
death, for within two weeks after reaching Iowa
Frederick Borcherding, Sr., was taken sick and
died.
The subject of our sketch never was
privileged to attend the American schools, but at the
same time has obtained a fair English education. He
came to this county in the fall of 1868, and lived in
Berlin Precinct until the fall of 1879, when he came
to his present farm, which he has since cultivated
with assiduous care, seeing as a result thereof a
continuously growing success.
While residing in Clayton County,
Iowa, our subject was married, on the 10th of October,
1866, to Eliza Abker. She was born in Clayton County,
lowa, of German parentage, and remained with her
parents until her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs.
Borcherding have been given seven children, of whom
six survive, vis: Maggie, Annie, Edward, Jennie,
Alfred and Josie. Alfred had a twin sister, who died
at the age of one year and a half; she bore the name
Alice.
The total acreage owned by our
subject is 480, all well improved and utilized for
farming and stockraising purposes. In starting our
subject had practically nothing; what has been
obtained is the result of hard work, good management
and thrifty care. He now has a good farmhouse and an
excellent barn that has recently been put up, standing
40x42 feet and 34 feet high from the basement, which
is eight feet from floor to ceiling. The basement
walls are all of rock, and stand upon a good
foundation. The cost of this building, exclusive of
his own work, was $1,400. The quarrying of the stone
and the hauling of the same a distance of nine miles,
besides other work upon the actual building, he did
himself. Our subject and his wife are both members of
the Lutheran Church and in good standing. They are
well respected in the neighborhood, and enjoy the
perfect confidence and esteem of all who know them.

HOMAS
H. ASHTON, M. D., an able and popular physician of
Syracuse, located in this city in the month of March,
1886. He is a native of Brown County, Ohio, and was
born to James and Cassandra (Sly) Ashton, on the 8th
of March. 1841. His father was a native of Bucks
County, Pa., and his mother of Clermont County, Ohio.
The great-grand father of the Doctor emigrated from
Ashton, England, at an early day, and settled in
Pennsylvania. There his son Samuel was born, brought
up, and in early manhood married. He continued after
that interesting event to follow the pursuits of
husbandry until the year 1806. He then migrated to
Ohio, and three years later settled in Clermont
County, making it his home for the remainder of his
days.
The father of our subject was four
years of age when his parents removed from Bucks
County, Pa., and settled in the Buckeye State, where
he grew to manhood. Upon leaving school he learned the
trade of blacksmith, in connection with which he also
followed farming. He removed to Defiance County in the
same State in 1851, where he continued to live until
1886, when he died at a very advanced age. The
longevity of this family has been perhaps one of the
striking features connected with its history, for
almost every member has attained more than the usually
allotted term of life.
The mother of our subject is of
Scotch and Holland-Dutch ancestry, and the family may
be traced for several generations in Virginia. The
maternal grandfather of Dr. Ashton, Jacob Sly, with
several friends and neighbors, migrated in the year
1791 to Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time of the Indian
troubles of that region he was with Gen. St. Clair as
a wagonmaster, and while thus engaged was in-

198

OTOE COUNTY.

jured and left the service.
Proceeding to Clermont County, he settled down to
farming, and it was at that homestead the mother of
our subject was born. There she made her home until
her marriage. Her death occurred in the year 1883, in
Defiance County, Ohio, when she had reached the age of
about eighty years.
The subject of our sketch was the
seventh of nine children born to his parents. He was
reared on the home farm, and pursued his early studies
in the district school. At the age of eighteen he
attended school at Defiance, and besides the studies
of the prescribed curriculum also received instruction
in Latin, the higher mathematics and literature. In
1861 he entered the university at Ann Arbor, Mich.,
and was graduated from the department of medicine in
1863. Soon after this he received a commission from
Gov. Motion, of Indiana, as Special Surgeon to the
Army of the Cumberland, and after thirty days of
service was tendered a position upon the regular
medical staff, serving thereon until the close of the
war.
During the time the Doctor was
stationed at Nashville, Tenn., he attended the
University in that city, from which he was also
graduated. Later, and while stationed at Murfreesboro,
he was taken with smallpox, and lay for several weeks
battling with that dread disease. His splendid
constitution now did him good service. and in due time
he recovered and returned to duty, when he was given
the charge of the pest hospital in that city, which
contained usually upward of 100 patients. After
holding this position for some time, he was
transferred to the United States General Hospital No.
4, at Murfreesboro. This hospital contained 284 beds,
and was full nearly the entire time of his service,
which continued until November, 1865, when the
hospital was closed, and our subject returned to
Defiance, Ohio.
Dr, Ashton now began to practice his
profession in his native place, where he soon achieved
an enviable reputation, and resided until 1882. He
then went to Colorado to take charge of a health
resort, but that not being a financial success, he
came to Nebraska. Upon looking over the city of
Syracuse and the surrounding country he was favorably
impressed with the outlook, soon opened an office, and
speedily had made a reputation, entering upon a
lucrative practice.
The Doctor was married in Ohio in
1865, and is the parent of two children--Merrill and
Ethel, as a fair exponent of the intelligence and
ability of the medical profession in Southern
Nebraska, we give his portrait, which, with those of
his compeers, will be looked upon in later years with
no less interest than that of the present time.

EORGE
B. HENDRICKS, of Hendricks Precinct, enjoys the
distinction of being one of its earliest pioneers. He
is pleasantly located on section 8, where he has
resided for a period of over thirty years. His land,
160 acres in extent. has been carefully and skillfully
cultivated, and yields in abundance the choicest crops
of Southern Nebraska. Mr. Hendricks served as a
soldier of the Union during the Rebellion, and his
life has been that of the careful, conscientious and
industrious citizen, one who has done good as he has
had opportunity, and lived at peace among his
neighbors.
Our subject is descended from two
excellent Southern families, his father having been
Hiram Hendricks, a native of Virginia, and his mother,
in her girlhood Sicily Thompson, who was born in
Kentucky. Later they removed with their parents to
Indiana, where their marriage took place. In the fall
of 1847 they removed to Iowa, where the father carried
on farming until 1856, and during that year cast his
lot among the earliest pioneers of Southern Nebraska.
Coming to this county he pre-empted 160 acres of land
not far from its southwestern lines, and the new
precinct then in process of organization was named in
his honor. He was chosen Justice of the Peace not long
afterward, in which office he served acceptably
several years. He assisted in the organization of the
Methodist Episcopal. Church, being one of its charter
members, and his house was always open for religious
services, and as the home of the itinerant
preacher.
This good man passed away in the
fall of 1861, at the early age of forty-eight years.
The mother is still living and has remained a widow
for a period

OTOE COUNTY.

199

of twenty-seven years. Site makes
her home with her son at the old farm. Their children,
eleven in number, were named respectively: Jane M.,
Louisa, David, Sarah; George B., our subject; Hannah,
who died when about thirteen years old; Catherine;
John who died at the age of about one year; Joseph,
Maggie and Hiram. Those who survive, with the
exception of two, are residents of Hendricks
Precinct.
The subject of this sketch was born
in Delaware County, Ind., Aug. 7, 1842. He came with
his parents to Iowa, and continued on the firm,
pursuing his studies in the district school. He was a
lad of fourteen years when the family came to this
county, and has a clear recollection of the trials and
hardships incident to pioneer life. In 1864, during
the progress of the Civil War, he enlisted in a
company of scouts sent out against the Indians under
the command of Gen. Sully, and saw much of border
warfare, being among other engagements in the battles
of Bad Lands, which continued three days without
intermission. At the close of the war he received his
honorable disharge (sic), and was mastered out at
Sioux City, Iowa.
After returning from the army our
subject took up a homestead claim of 160 acres in
Hendricks Precinct, but later crossed the plains four
times to Denver, and once went as far as New Mexico
purpose of freighting. Upon his return to Nebraska he
confined his attention closely to his farm, and in
time effected the improvements which have made his
home one of the most desirable in this section. He
planted cottonwood, ash and elm trees, an orchard of
100 apple trees besides the smaller fruits, and quite
an extent of hedge for fencing. He put up a neat and
substantial dwelling, has a good barn and a vineyard.
He keeps a goodly assortment of live stock, and has
the improved farm machinery necessary for the
prosecution of agriculture in a profitable manner.
The lady who has been the close
counselor and companion of our subject for a period of
nearly twenty years, was in her girlhood Miss Melinda
E. Allstot, and they were wedded on the 28th of
August, 1870. Mrs. H. was born in Dubuque, Iowa, March
22, 1854, and is the daughter of George and Nancy
(Morgan) Allstot, the father a native of Kentucky, and
the mother of Virginia. They were married in Indiana.
Mr. A. was a wheelwright by trade, which he followed
in that State until his removal to Iowa, when he
turned his attention to farming. In 1870 he came to
Lancaster County, Neb., where he homesteaded 160 acres
of land, but on account of failing health was obliged
to abandon active labor. He was finally placed in the
Insane Asylum at Lincoln, where his death took place
in the fall of 1884. The mother is still living, and
makes her home with her son in Lancaster County.
The parents of Mrs. Hendricks had a
family of ten children, namely: Susan, Kate, Sarah,
John, George, James, Hannah, Melinda, Albert and
Robert. The latter is now deceased. To our subject and
his wife there have been born seven children: Laura,
May, Charles, William, Raymond, Nettie and Frank, all
of whom are at home with their parents. Both parents
and children attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at
Solon, and Mr. Hendricks, politically, gives his
support to the Democratic party.

RANK
P. HAZELTON, a well-to-do farmer of Hendricks
Precinct, and pleasantly located on section 16, came
to Nebraska in the spring of 1872, and purchased the
eighty acres upon which he has since labored and made
good improvements, His farm buildings are neat and
comfortable. He has a stream of living water, with a
good supply of shade trees and an orchard of apples
and the smaller fruits, besides the other necessaries
for the comfort of his family.
Our subject is of New England
ancestry, his parents, Otis and Melissa (Graves)
Hazelton, having been born in New Hampshire, the
father in Springfield, and the mother in Andover.
After marriage they lived upon a farm in the Old
Granite State until 1866, then migrated to Iowa,
settling near the present town of Farmersburg, in
Clayton County, where they remained five years.
Thence, in 1871, they removed to Lancaster County,
Neb., where the father homesteaded 160 acres of land,
and where they now live.
The father of our subject, in 1862,
during the